


Stay in My Backpack Forever

by georgiehensley



Category: Austin Mahone (Musician), Justin Bieber (Musician)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Aliens, M/M, Romance, justin's an alien - austin doesn't believe in them, neither of them are famous in this, new to ao3 so i dunno what else to tag um, that's kind of all there is to know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-25
Updated: 2014-01-25
Packaged: 2018-01-10 00:43:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1152768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/georgiehensley/pseuds/georgiehensley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You don't know what they're like if they know that you're alive; They're gonna try to take away the secrets of your planet's life; I know you must be upset, you lost your family in a wreck; But you gotta listen…"</p>
<p>Or, the one where Austin doesn’t believe in aliens, and Justin is there to change his mind (and maybe help him discover the meaning of ‘true love can conquer all').</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay in My Backpack Forever

**Author's Note:**

> Based off Justin's song 'Backpack' from his 2013 album, Journals.  
> Also, first fic on AO3, woo! (But it's probably too short and hard to follow, sorry. I'm not as great a writer as I think I am.)

“ _It’s been seventy-two hours since the crash—”_

_“A fiery ball came crashing through the sky…”_

_“Nobody knows what to do, I’m freaking out here.”_

_“Extra-terrestrials.”_

_“Aliens! Aliens, there’s aliens!”_

 

Austin shuts the TV, letting out a sigh.  _Aliens,_ he thinks.  _What a load of bullshit._  He’d seen the broadcastings all day—supposedly something crashed to the ground in the Los Angeles deserts, and no one knows exactly what it is. Nothing’s emerged from the object yet, but the networks are flooded with broadcastings and streaming of the object, and all newscasters are saying the same thing— _aliens_.

“Where are you going?” Alex asks as Austin stands from the couch, walking through the kitchen to grab his car keys.

“To find out the truth about this ‘alien’ bullshit.” Austin answers. “You coming or what?” Alex hesitates for a moment, but stands, grabbing his phone on the way out.

 

The drive through the desert is long, and the further into the desert they go, the more nervous Alex gets.

“A-are you sure you wanna do this, Austin?” He asks. “We can always just forget this and go home, where we can get the truth from the oh-so-reliable news networks.”

“No, we won’t get the truth because  _aliens aren’t real._ ” Austin argues. He turns his head to look at Alex for a moment. “I mean, you don’t  _actually_  believe them, right?” Alex sighs for a moment, turning his head forward again, his eyes widening almost immediately.

“Austin, watch out!” He yells, and Austin turns his head to see someone standing a good distance from their car, but quickly coming closer and closer as the car continued to move.

“Oh shit!” Austin mutters, trying his hardest to turn the car away from the boy, the action only sending the car spinning in a complete three-sixty, and then some. Once they finally come to a stop, the person they’d nearly crashed into is out of sight.

“D-did we kill him?” Austin asks, struggling to catch his breath. Alex shrugs, and then the two bolt out of the car, looking to see if there was any damage done to it. Alex motions Austin over to his side, where a boy, one who seems to be around their age, stands, his hands leaning on the car door, where there’s a pretty big dent, just large enough to fit his hands.

“Um, hello.” Austin says as Alex pushes him forward. “I’m Austin, this is my friend Alex, and uh, who are you?” The boy in front of them sighs, turning his head, and Austin gasps softly when he finds them flash yellow before settling into a normal brown color.

“M-my name is, uh, Justin.” The boy says, taking his hands off of the car and standing up straight. “I’m not really from around here.”

“Where are you from?” Alex asks.

“I can’t say.” Justin replies. “Someone will find me if I do.”

“What do you mean?” Austin asks. Justin meets his gaze again, and his eyes flash yellow for a split second. As the realization dawns on him, Austin stumbles back, only to be caught by Alex.

“You’re the alien.” Austin breathes out. Alex turns his gaze back to Justin, seeing him nod.

“You’re one of them, aren’t you?” Justin asks.

“Huh?” Austin says, confused.

“Those people over there, the ones who were watching my spaceship.” Justin explains. “You just want to examine me or something.”

“No, not at all.” Austin says, standing up straight. “I just wanted to see if you were real or not.”

“Why don’t we get you home?” Alex asks. “Away from all of this?” Austin hits him in the side. “Ow! What?”

“Will you excuse us for a moment?” Austin asks, not even waiting for a reply before dragging Alex away, putting a safe distance between them and the alien. “Are you nuts? My mom will freak if she knows we have an alien in the house!”

“But she’s into this kind of stuff!” Alex argues. “Isn’t ‘E.T.’ one of her favorite movies?”

“Yeah, but that’s different from the real thing!” Austin says.

“The ‘real thing’ seems friendlier.” Alex points out. “We should help him.” Austin sighs.

“Fine.” He says.

“I can hear you, you know.” Justin says, walking over to the two boys. “And I’ll go with you. But, what about my spaceship?”

“Forget the spaceship.” Austin says. “If you go back, they’ll only find you. And you don’t want that, right?” Justin nods. “So come on, let’s get you home.  _Our_  home.”

 

Surprisingly enough, Austin’s mom ends up being fine with the new extra-terrestrial houseguest. Austin and Alex explain the situation, and even after seeing Justin’s eyes turn yellow, she’s fine with it. Her only real comments were that Justin can borrow Austin’s clothes, and that he’d be staying in Austin’s room since she didn’t want him sleeping on the couch.

When it’s finally time for bed, Justin’s a bit hesitant to lay down with Austin in his bed.

“Aw, come on.” Austin says sweetly when he sees Justin eyeing the mattress. “I won’t bite. And you won’t either, right?” At that, Justin cracks a smile.

“No, we’re a peaceful kind.” He says. “Or, what is it you expect us to say? ‘We come in peace’?” Austin smiles.

“Huh, you know more about Earth than I would’ve expected.” He says. Justin chuckles softly, sitting at the edge of the bed.

“We’re very educated about all that.” He says. “I know more than you think I do.”

“I’d ask you trivia questions, but I’m way too tired.” Austin says. “So, are you coming or what?”

“Next to you?” Justin asks.

“Of course,” Austin says. “Why?”

“I-I’m just not used to, um, sleeping with another male.” Justin says. “We don’t really do any sort of intimate things with the same sex.”

“Well, welcome to 2014 on Earth, bro.” Austin jokes. Justin chuckles again, and Austin smiles. “So, coming?” Justin smiles, getting up and walking around the bed, lying down next to Austin, and letting himself get comfortable under the covers.

“Comfy?” Austin asks after a moment. Justin nods, yawning, his eyes already closing. The room falls silent for a moment, before Austin breaks it.

“Hey, Justin?”

“Hmm?”

“Um, why do your eyes turn yellow?”

Justin’s breath hitches for a moment, and Austin can tell that he’s hesitant to answer.

“Our eyes change color based off our mood, like how you guys have those color-changing necklaces.”

“And yellow is?”

“Affection … love.”

“ _Oh_.” Is all Austin says, and then Justin turns over onto his other side, his back facing Austin. The human sighs, hesitating for a moment, before shifting forward, wrapping an arm around Justin’s waist. The alien melts into the embrace, shifting backward so that he’s as close to Austin as possible, and the human takes that as his cue to lean in slightly, whispering, “Goodnight Justin.” The alien turns his head at that, eyes now open, yellow instead of their human-like brown as he says, “Goodnight Austin.” (And like what had happened earlier, Austin gasps again, but this time, Justin smiles, turning his head back and laying it down again.)

 

“ _Crews have been watching this UFO for nearly twenty four hours now, and no signs of any extra-terrestrials. Some are saying it’s a failed satellite from NASA, but the company has no comment._ ”

Alex shuts the TV just as he hears footsteps coming downstairs, and once they reach the living room, he turns to see both Austin and Justin standing in the room, the two looking half-awake, still in their pajamas with messy hair.

“Don’t you look gorgeous today?” Alex teases, and Austin chuckles, grabbing a pillow and chucking it at his friend. Justin jumps back slightly, startled at the action, but Austin puts a hand out to calm him.

“It’s fine.” He says. “Just some teasing. You don’t have that back on your home planet?” Justin shakes his head.

“Again, we don’t show much affection for the same sex.” He explains. “We’re only meant to show affection for our partners.”

“So, not even hugging your parents?” Alex asks.

“No, that’s okay, but we don’t really have friends, just acquaintances.” Justin explains. “People you can have a conversation with, but not hug or kiss, or have fun with, for that matter.”

“Oh, I hug Alex all the time.” Austin says. “Wow, we wouldn’t last a day on your planet.” Justin smiles slightly.

“Your mom left, by the way.” Alex mentions.

“It’s Friday already?” Austin asks. “Boy, this summer’s going fast.” He then climbs over Alex’s outstretched legs, sitting down next to him on the couch, slinging an arm over his shoulder. He glances over towards Justin, noticing him just standing there, hesitating.

“Wanna sit?” Austin asks. Justin’s eyes flash purple for a split second. “No one from your planet is going to come down to punish you. If you wanna watch something with two guys, it’s fine. I don’t have to pull you close or anything, heck, you don’t even have to sit right next to us. Just watch something with us.” Justin nods, shyly climbing over Alex’s legs, Austin pulling his own in so that Justin can walk, the alien sitting down next to Austin.

“Better?” Austin asks once he’s settled. Justin nods.

“H-how’d you know that purple meant fear?” He asks.

“Lucky guess.” Austin says with a shrug. Justin smiles shyly.

 

“You’re going out?” Justin asks as Austin and Alex head towards the front door, dressed in clothes that seem to be much nicer than any of the things they’d worn before.

“Yeah, uh, we have this thing where we go to the club and try hooking up with people—” Austin tries to explain, stopping himself as Justin’s eyebrows furrow, eyes turning green. “We go to a place and dance, and try to, er,  _attract_  girls while doing so.” Justin nods, eyes turning brown again, clearly understanding the explanation.

“You wanna come with us?” Alex asks.

“ _I_  wouldn’t suggest that.” Austin retaliates.

“Why?”

“People might realize that he’s the alien and report him!”

“But do you want an alien in your house  _alone_  for a few hou—”

“Again, I can hear you clearly.” Justin cuts in. Austin sighs.

“Wanna come with us?” He asks, repeating Alex’s question. Justin sighs.

“The whole experience sounds a bit weird to me, since we probably ‘dance’ in a different way than you do on Earth,” He says. “And trust me, I’ve seen, but that sounds kind of nice. Do I have to go change?”

“No, what you’re wearing is fine.” Austin says, giving Justin a once-over, making a note of his great matching skills, since he’d paired a black tank top with jeans (Austin expected him to know nothing about fashion, but  _he’s an alien, not an idiot_ ).

 

_Humans really do this for entertainment,_  Justin asks himself mentally as he enters the club, taking in the sights, sounds, and aromas that greet him within the first minute that he’s there. It smells absolutely foul, the music is so loud that his heart begins to pound to the beat, and he struggles not to make a face at all the sweat-glistened bodies rubbing up against one another in the middle of the room. Clearly disliking the experience of being there, Justin lets out a whimper, eyes turning a blue-violet color, taking a step back, only to be stopped by Austin reaching his arm out. Justin turns and Austin is quick to notice the change in eye color, asking if Justin’s okay.

“No.” Justin admits. “It’s too loud, smells bad, and people do  _that_  for fun?” He motions to the dance floor. Austin chuckles.

“You’re just new to it all.” He says. “Come on, give it a chance. You may find yourself liking this.” Justin sighs, grabbing onto Austin’s hand with both of his own.

“Don’t leave me.” He says, sounding like a young child. Austin chuckles again, pulling the alien along. Justin clearly looks uncomfortable as they head towards the mass of people, but Austin calms him, gently putting his free hand on Justin’s shoulder once they reach the dance floor.

“Relax.” He says, leaning in close so that Justin can hear him. At the sound of his voice, Justin immediately relaxes, before speaking.

“Where’s Alex?” He finds himself asking. Austin shrugs.

“Probably with some girl.” He says, wiggling his hand out of Justin’s grasp, letting his hands fall to Justin’s waist. “Comfortable?” Justin hesitates, before nodding, wrapping his own arms around Austin’s neck (because it’s what seems right, he doesn’t exactly know why). After a while, Justin finds himself swaying slightly to the music, closing his eyes and letting the beat take over him. Austin chuckles at the sight.

“Having fun?” He says over the music. Justin nods, his closed eyes causing him to let his head move about, ending up with his forehead pressed against Austin’s. The human’s breath hitches at this, and Justin opens his eyes, which are now yellow. Then, Austin finds his gaze dropping to Justin’s lips, and next thing he knows, the alien is kissing him. It doesn’t last long, just a simple tongue-free kiss, but it leaves both boys breathing hard.

“I-I’m so dead.” Justin breathes out. Austin shakes his head.

“They can’t get you here.” He says. “You’re safe.” Justin sighs.

 

That night, when the two of them are tucked in bed together, they’re lying on their backs. Austin is continuously watching Justin, who stares out the window, looking at all the stars.

“Home.” The word escapes his lips before he even realizes he’s saying it. Once he does, a hand flies up to cover his mouth, and he turns his head away from the window.

“It’s okay.” Austin says, gently resting a hand on top of Justin’s free one. “I’d be homesick too if I were you. But you’re safer this way. You wouldn’t even return home if you tried.” Removing his hand from his face, Justin’s eyes water.

“Everything’s so new to me.” He says. “I mean, tonight was fun, but it’s not the same. I-I wanna go back.” Austin sighs.

“You can’t.” He says. “I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is. You’ll live, I promise. I’m going to help you through this.” Justin sighs, turning his right hand, grabbing onto Austin’s and squeezing tightly. And, Austin squeezed back, seeing Justin’s eyes turn yellow for a split second, even through his tears.

 

Another morning comes, and the ‘alien hunt’ is still everywhere. But, as they report the new details, Justin makes Alex leave it on.

“ _It would seem as though the last UFO we saw has disappeared, but another one has taken its place. You can tell the difference because the first one was yellow, and this one is red. No one knows where this one came from, but we can tell you this – it is certainly_ not _a satellite from NASA._ ”

Austin glances over towards Justin, seeing his eyes water.

“Mom.” He whispers, standing from the couch. “I-I have to go.”

“What?” Austin says, standing as well, grabbing Justin’s wrist as he attempts to leave. “You can’t.”

“I have to.”  Justin says. “T-they’re looking for me. They know I’m gone. I can’t stay here any longer.”

“You’ll get caught.” Austin argues. “You’ll be  _tested_.”

“I can get rid of them,” Justin says. “Trust me.”

“Let him go, Austin.” Alex says, now standing as well, a hand resting on Austin’s shoulder. “It’s what he wants.” Austin glances back towards Justin, watching as a tear slips down his cheek. Guilt overcoming him, Austin lets go of the alien’s wrist.

“Go.” He says simply. Justin smiles, stepping forward to wrap his arms around Austin’s neck, hugging him tightly. When he opens his eyes in the hug, he sees Alex standing sheepishly behind Austin, so Justin beckons him closer, stretching slightly to kiss Alex on the forehead.

“Thank you both for your help.” He says when he pulls out of the hug. “I know it’s been a short time, but it’s over. I’m sorry.” Austin just smiles sympathetically. Justin smiles shyly as well, before heading towards the front door, the two boys hearing it slam shut as he leaves.

“Well, I guess that’s over.” Alex says with a shrug. “Come on, Austin, let’s go see if there’s any non-alien shows on.”

“No.” Austin says.

“What?”

“I have to go.”

“Why?”

“I can’t let him go through with this!” Austin says.

“But you just let him go—” Alex tries to argue.

“He’s getting himself  _killed_.” Austin fires back. “I can’t let him do this.” He grabs his car keys. “You coming or what?” Alex sighs, before nodding, rushing to follow Austin out the door.

 

When they get there and Austin realizes that he hadn’t seen Justin the whole drive there, he mutters a curse under his breath.

“I don’t see him.” Alex says, craning his neck.

“You have to.” Austin says. “He has to be here somewhere, because no one’s left yet.”

“Is the spaceship still there?” Alex asks.

“I think so.” Austin replies, looking all around for Justin. When he finally spots him, he’s quick to get out of the car, running in the opposite direction of where the press vans and helicopters are.

“Don’t go any further!” He calls out.

“Austin, I thought you were letting me go—”

“No.” Austin huffs out, stopping once he finally reaches Justin. “You’ll be killed out there, I’m not letting you do this.”

“But, home—”

“ _This_  can be your home.” Austin argues. “You said yourself that ‘yellow means affection/love’ … well, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but your eyes turn yellow just about whenever you look at me, and I think that should mean something.” As if on cue, Justin’s eyes turned yellow, but still filled with tears.

“You’re right.” He admits. “I mean, I hate Earth. I hate it. I think your kind is greedy and disgusting and  _sick_  at times, but I’ve never felt more at home than when I’m with you. I-is it even possible to fall in love this quickly?” Austin chuckles, his eyes watering as well.

“Have they never taught you the term ‘love at first sight’?” He asks, and Justin chuckles as well, grabbing Austin by the shoulders and pulling him forward, pressing their lips together. Just as Austin’s arms snake around his waist, Justin pulls back, but still wearing a smile.

“Let’s get you home.” Austin says, and Justin smiles, following Austin to the car, getting in and letting him drive away, in the opposite direction of where Justin had planned to go. (And a few days later, the other spaceship is gone, and Justin figures that they gave up on finding him. The newscasters move on to discussing other things, more important topics, and Austin’s happy about that. Because he’s quite good at keeping secrets, and the greatest secret of all is sitting right next to him.)

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: georgiehensley


End file.
